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Helga Pataki
Helga Geraldine Pataki is the tritagonist and usually the main antagonist of Hey Arnold! and the deuteragonist of the television film Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie. She has been frequently been depicted as anti-heroic and even bully or villain at times, eventually going so far to develop as the recurring antagonist of the entire franchise. Name The name Helga is of Eastern European origin, which means "holy." In the series, Helga's sister is named Olga, which also means "holy." The names Olga and Helga are variants (respectively, Russian and German) of the same name. Helga's second name is Geraldine, and is a tribute to former Nickelodeon executive Geraldine Laybourne. This has never been mentioned on the show, only referred to by her initial. Her surname Pataki is originally a Hungarian surname, meaning "one who lived by a brook or stream." Personality Helga's Evolution . Helga could be classified as a tomboy, as evidenced by her interest in playing contact sports alongside her male classmates and disregard/dislike for stereotypical female behavior, although this is countered by her fondness of the color pink and otherwise girly clothing choices. She can also be very cynical, deceitful, violent, tough and bossy, bullying her classmates with an iron fist, and often taking advantage of her best friend, Phoebe, making her a bit of a spoiled brat. She generally dislikes for Arnold because of his football-head and his dreamer while she thinks his head was different to other people. She also tends to reply sarcastically to express her annoyance, and usually mocks her classmates by calling them nicknames. However, Helga also has a much softer side, which becomes apparent when she is alone and involved in her school work. She is very emotional, poetic, sometimes caring, and as such, able to comprehend a spectrum of emotions such as love and hate. She dislikes for Arnold on occasions because of his football-head and his dreamer while she thinks his head was different to other people. She has been periodically been depicted as bully or villain, usually going so far to develop as anti-hero of the entire franchise. This emotional extremity is a running joke throughout the series; although Helga is seen as a "tough girl" by her classmates, she is frequently the first to go into hysterics in times of crisis. She has also been known to be somewhat materialistic. Helga-TJM Helga in The Jungle Movie. Helga is occasionally clumsy, but is also a genius. In the episode "The Aptitude Test", in which the class takes a standardized exam, it is eventually revealed that she achieved a perfect score on the test and the most outstanding result since her perfectionist sister, Olga Pataki, took the test. Presumably, however, the types of grades she receives on an average basis in school vary from low ("Quantity Time") to high ("A Day in the Life of a Classroom"). Her bad grades are most likely caused by her lack of motivation, attention and academic concern. Helga appears to excel academically in literature classes as evidenced by Mr. Simmons' constant praise of her literary work, though he always withholds her name possibly out of respect as she gets embarrassed when he reads them aloud. Helga displays a remarkable gift for poetry, and is able to create, often on the spot, dramatic soliloquies expressing a situation or feeling with an impressive use of vocabulary, especially for someone her age. These poems and monologues were simpler in the earlier episodes, but grew in their intensity as the series progressed. Aside from poetry, Helga exhibits further evidence of cultural experience, being able to identify the work of Edward Hopper and make reference to George Orwell's 1984 in "Helga on the Couch". Helga's catch phrase is "criminy", which she apparently picked up from her father. She is allergic to strawberries (see "Quantity Time"), which cause her to break out in hives. As seen in "Downtown as Fruits", she names her fist "Old Betsy". Appearance Appearance-wise, Helga is 50-50 between her parents. She has her mother's blonde hair, skin and head shape. She has her father's unibrow, nose and ears. She wears her hair in long pigtails without any visible hair ties. In the earlier episodes, her pigtails were longer and thinner, but as the character designs were refined, her pigtails became more short and thick. Helga usually wears a pink dress with a hot pink stripe over a white T-shirt and a large pink bow in her hair, along with white shoes. She has made some appearances in other outfits, though (see screenshots section). In the pilot and claymation shorts, Helga's outfit consisted of a dark pink dress with sleeves and a white collar, and matching dark pink shoes and socks. During Helga's dream in the episode "Married", dream Arnold says this about Helga's eyes, indicating that Helga has blue eyes: "Your eyes are like two diamonds, shining brightly at mist of sky of pale blue heaven." Based off this episode, Helga will blossom into a beautiful young lady, if her appearance in her dream and Phoebe's imagination at the end (which many have theorized to be a flashforward of Arnold and Helga actually married) is what she will look like when she grows up, it seems she's just in her "ugly duckling" phase and will one day become a beautiful swan. Further supporting this, her older sister Olga went through a similar period, as seen in a photo in "Spelling Bee". In Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie, as indication of her age, she appears more well-developed physically. Her dress remains similar to the previous one, but is more fitting on her figure and has a slightly different design: it's now light pink with a pink stripe and a red stripe at the bottom. She also wears red and white Converse sneakers, and her pigtails are a tad longer and thinner, more or less resembling how they looked in the early episodes. During the field trip to San Lorenzo, she wears an unbuttoned pink dress shirt tied at the waist over a white tank top, a dark brown belt with a gold buckle, light brown shorts, white socks and dark brown hiking boots. She later discards the pink shirt after escaping the prison. Family Helga has a very dysfunctional family. Her parents are neglectful and don’t pay much attention to her most of the time, something which has happened since preschool. She also calls them by their first names, as a result of their neglect. The only family member that gives her attention is her perfectionist sister, Olga, who Helga usually can't stand. On occasion, Helga can relate and bond with her family, though this progress is almost always rendered moot shortly after, with everything going back to normal. It is heavily suggested that Helga's home situation is the root cause of her anti-social behavior. Robert "Big Bob" Pataki Her father, a successful beeper salesman who suffers from workaholism, rarely notices her existence, favoring her over-achieving, neurotic college-aged sister Olga, who Helga rarely gets along with. Helga usually refers to him as "Bob" or "Big Bob," indicating she does not really see him as her father, and relates poorly to him. Big Bob does pay more attention to Helga when city contests occur, but only for selfish reasons or to make Helga into a copy of Olga. In "Spelling Bee", Big Bob has much pride in his family name, pushing Helga to win the trophy that belongs to all of the Patakis. In most episodes, Big Bob prefers to watch television than listen to Helga, absentmindedly calling her "Olga" instead. He sometimes calls her "the girl" instead of her full name, another evidence of rarely noticing her. Although Big Bob is far more boorish in personality, he and Helga share some similarities that occasionally bond them. Both enjoy wrestling, ridiculing melodramatic theater, bullying and eating. They also share similar speaking patterns, though Helga possesses a better command of language. Helga is deeply resentful of Big Bob's excessive attention to Olga. Miriam Pataki Her mother, Miriam, often gives off hints of being an alcoholic: by being depressed, forgetful, struggling to stay conscious and frequently drinking "smoothies" and "coffee." Helga also refers to her mother as "Miriam" and relates poorly to her. Though apathetic at home, it is suggested in multiple episodes that Miriam is capable, but stunted by her marriage to an overbearing Big Bob Pataki. In "Olga Gets Engaged", Miriam advises Olga not to make the same marital mistake she did, and in "Road Trip", Miriam reveals that she used to be a rodeo queen. Miriam's abilities are showcased in "The Beeper Queen", where she fills in for Big Bob at his Beeper Emporium when he must stay home due to a back injury. Miriam packs Helga an exceptionally nutritious lunch, shares stories and listens to Helga, and helps Helga with her homework — all implying that Miriam is held back by her unemployment and marriage to Big Bob, affecting Helga's own upbringing. Like Bob, Miriam and Helga share some similarities that occasionally bond them as well, such as sharing stories and playing sports. Olga Pataki Olga is Helga's older sister and suffers from perfectionism. She and Helga do not relate to each other well, causing great conflict and resentment between the two (much of the resentment is exerted by Helga, for Olga doesn't seem to resent her little sister at all). Helga is jealous of Olga's image of perfection and the attention she receives from both of their parents, Big Bob and Miriam. Olga is kind to Helga, but Helga does not respond to her kindness because she feels it is insincere, as Olga does not listen to Helga's more serious concerns about their family and relationship. Olga condescends to Helga, calling her "baby sister" and refusing to address the problems in their family. Olga admitted to Helga in the midst of a severe breakdown that their parents constant adulation and favoritism affect her at least as severely as they do Helga and expresses a desire to be ignored and free the way her sister is. However, throughout the series the sibling relationship is primarily seen from Helga's point of view. In the episode "Spelling Bee", Bob tries to encourage Helga to win the spelling bee. By doing that, he tells her how Olga won the city spelling bee. He tells Helga that Olga had to spell the word "qualm" and nailed it by remembering the silent letter "l". Bob then tells Helga that that was Olga's first big win and that after that she won more contests and earned so many trophies that the room as time went on became nearly full of trophies. He then shows Helga an empty space on the shelf and tells her that it is reserved for her own spelling bee trophy. Initially Helga intends to win the spelling bee. But when she finds out that her dad bribed Arnold, she intentionally forfeits the spelling bee. In the episode "Big Sis", it is evident that Olga and Lila Sawyer have similar personalities and interests. There were some episodes where Helga expressed some affection and concern for Olga. Those episodes were: "Student Teacher" - In this episode, Olga came home for spring break and surprises Helga by showing up one morning at her school, P.S. 118, to announce that she will be the new student teacher and decided not to move to Alaska. Throughout the episode, Helga tries to get Olga fired but everything backfires. At one point, Helga unbeknownst to Olga, gave her car a flat tire and was annoyed when Olga met her on the bus the following morning. Everything then escalates when Olga reveals to Helga's classmates that she was a bed-wetter until the age of 8. But it's not until Arnold convinces Helga to have a talk with her sister that she actually does so. During the talk, Helga tells a surprised and perplexed Olga that things were not working out. She tells Olga that the further away she is, the closer they will be. In the end, Olga moves to Alaska to continue as a student teacher. Later in the episode, Helga receives a letter from Olga and begins writing back. Initially Helga signs her letter with the word "From" but after looking at a picture of Olga, she crosses out "From" and signs "Love, Helga." "Big Sis" - Olga returns home from college and tells Helga that she joined a Big Sisters, Big Brothers program. Helga is thrilled to hear this because that means that Olga will be preoccupied with some other child. However, Helga is not happy when that child turns out to be her classmate Lila Sawyer. For most of the episode, Helga secretly ruins Olga and Lila's plans. At the end of the episode, Helga approaches Olga and admits that she is jealous of her relationship with Lila. A touched Olga reassures Helga that she will always be her "baby sis" and that they have a strong bond that only real sisters have that can't be broken. "Olga Gets Engaged" - Olga comes home for spring break and announces to her family that she is engaged to a handsome young man named Doug LeSham who turns out to be a con man/pathological liar. Helga is amused by the idea of Olga marrying Doug LeSham because that would mean that Olga would fall from grace with their parents. But on the day of Olga's wedding, Helga catches Doug talking to another woman on the phone and knows that he isn’t faithful. Helga confronts Doug and begins intervening on Olga's behalf. She threatens to press the redial button to spill the news of his marriage to the other woman. Doug panics and Helga tells him to leave basically saying that she'll tie up the loose ends. Upon hearing that, Doug leaves. Helga then writes a note to Olga and signs it with Doug's name saying that he was called to face a crisis in Nambia, and he thought it unfair to maintain his relationship with Olga whilst he was away. Gallery *See Helga Pataki/Gallery Category:Females Category:Humans Category:Kids Category:Nickelodeon characters Category:Hey Arnold! characters Category:Characters with blond hair Category:Cowards Category:Characters